Twisting the Knife
by Tycho
Summary: Severus is involved in the death of the Grangers and witnesses something both remarkable and terrible as a result. Chapter 4 up - a conversation in the hallway...
1. Departure

Twisting the Knife.

by Tycho

Disclaimer: All the characters belong to J.K Rowling. I gain nothing from this except the joy of others.

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"You have to save them! Please, Professor! Promise me you will. Promise me!" Hermione's entire being pleaded with him to spare her family. A plea his blackened soul ached to grant.

"I promise." Severus pushed the portkey into her hands and watched her eyes widen in horror and betrayal, "Their deaths will be quick."

The portkey did its job and took her to safety.

Severus looked around the room, taking in details. It was, he surmised, a typical teenage girl's bedroom. Frilly covers over the rumpled bed. Peculiar knick-knacks were artfully arranged on the dresser. Posters, of both muggle and wizarding celebrities, were somehow stuck to the wall. About the only oddity was the few hundred books crammed into the floor to ceiling bookshelves that lined one wall. That was one feature that clearly claimed this room as belonging to the know-it-all of Hogwarts.

But without its owner's presence, Hermione Granger's bedroom seemed as empty and desolate as the pit in which Severus' soul had been cast into. As empty as her life must now seem to her.

Severus spun in a whirl of black cloak and shadow and left, making his way to the stairs that led down to the main part of the house. As he walked down them, he schooled his features and cleared his mind of emotions. Lucius was not a Leglimens, but he was very skilled at deception, in both performance and recognition.

As Severus reached the bottom of the stairs, his oldest friend greeted him. "Severus! What took you so long? We were beginning to worry."

Severus was always amazed at how Lucius seemed to maintain an air of calm and composure, regardless of his surroundings or the situation. Whether at the Ministry deflecting charges of treason or torturing muggles in his manor dungeons, the man always seemed bored and disaffected.

"The mudblood delayed me long enough to apparate." Severus lied.

Lucius frowned. "She shouldn't be able to apparate yet. Lessons don't start until next month."

"Apparently she taught herself." Severus sneered in mock disgust. "She always was a precocious little chit." _'And,'_ he thought in the deepest recesses of his mind, _'Far brighter than that brat of yours, old friend.'_

The head of the family Malfory considered this and dismissed it. "More likely that someone was giving her advance tutoring. No matter. Perhaps the death of her family will drive her mad." He turned, but paused, frowning in concern. "She didn't recognise you, did she old friend? Our victory here means naught if we lose the intelligence you bring us."

"No, I don't think so. I kept my face covered and my casting to a whisper. It was only after she left that I removed my mask. I don't believe she realised who she was running from." Severus let his lips curl in a feral grin. "But could you imagine the look on her face if she had? Having spent all these years defending me to her friends, only to find out that they were right all along? That really would have driven her mad!"

Lucius laughed heartily and clapped him on the shoulder in appreciation of his jest. "Quite so, my friend, quite so. Come, let us to business." And with that Lucius returned his attentions to the remainder of the Granger family, cowering in the centre of the lounge room.

There were three of them in total, all dressed in their sleeping garments, which was suitable given the late hour, and all shivering in fear. In the middle of this trembling mass of limbs curled a small girl-child of perhaps five years. She whimpered occasionally as her tears mingled with blood from a small wound in her cheek. Blood that also glistened darkly from the signet ring worn by Dolohov. The child tried to burrow deeper into her mother's embrace under Severus' scrutiny.

Out of all the loss of life this night, Severus would regret her death the most. According to what he'd overheard, she was quieter than her sister, but just as clever. She would have been a true joy to teach.

Severus moved his study to her mother, a woman almost ordinary in appearance, except for the obvious intelligence in eyes. Severus could easily see that it was this that had first attracted, and then captured her husband.

Mr Granger was obviously the source of Hermione's Gryffindor nature. He stood in front of his family, maintaining physical contact with them while shielding them as best he could from a danger he could not truly comprehend.

"How brave," Lucius drawled, "How pointless. Avada Kedavra."

Mr Granger dropped without a sound, his lifeless body cushioned by the thick carpeting. Mrs Granger, however, was not so silent. She screamed in terror and grief with volume enough to rival a banshee.

"Damn." Severus cursed.

"What is it, Severus?"

"The neighbours would have heard that." he explained. "The aurors may be slow to respond to the mudblood's alarm, but I guarantee that the muggle police will respond a damn sight quicker. They could be here in a few minutes and the aurors will follow soon after. We need to finish this quickly and be gone before they do."

"Always the voice of reason, eh Severus. Pity." Lucius sighed, "The woman might have proved entertaining. Oh, well."

It was at this point that fate took a hand in the affairs of mortal man and revealed something rather startling to Severus. He watched as Lucius cast the Killing Curse once more, deliberately aiming for the child. Later, Severus would remember thinking that it was just like Lucius to get satisfaction from killing a child in its mothers arms. To watch the mother's face as her beloved creation turned limp and lifeless in her embrace was just the sort of thing that Lucius would enjoy.

It was as this thought was passing through his mind that Severus saw the recognition of the curse in Mrs Granger's eyes. He saw the determined set of her jaw as she decided that the horror that took her husband would not take her child as well. Severus saw her tighten her grip on her child and deliberately turn her back to her attacker in the most remarkable act of self-sacrifice that he had ever witnessed.

Lucius swore as her lifeless body fell backwards to land alongside her husband's in a gruesome parody of their marriage bed. Lucius swore and, before Severus' brain could catch up on current events and communicate to his mouth the need to shout a warning, Lucius cast again.

Severus watched, partly in horror, partly in awe, certain he was about to see a re-enactment of the event that caused the First Fall of the Dark Lord. Another part of his mind, the academic side of his nature, was curious as to how it would work. Would the curse simply bounce off the child? Would it envelop her, perhaps even be darwn into her before returning to the one that cast it?

In truth, none of these things happened. The girl simply died.

Severus was the last to leave, his confederates leaving him to ponder this impossible event. As he disapparated away, one thought dominated his mind. A single line of reasoning with only two possible outcomes; each less palatable than the last.

Considering what he had just witnessed, and taking into account what he had been told about the events of 1981, only one of two things were possible. Either Dumbledore was wrong, or Dumbledore had lied.

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Author's query – should I continue this?


	2. Arrival

There are several ways in which a person can splinch themselves while apparating, but the most common of them is what the employees of St Mungo's commonly call "putting it in reverse". Over three hundred cases a year in Europe whereby the wizard apparates into a location or situation in which his first instinct is to flee, causing him to try, even subconsciously, to return from whence he came.

Severus was rather proud of his apparition record. Not once in twenty years of apparating, including several years of apparating to the Dark Lord's presence, had he splinched. Not even Dumbledore could boast a record that clean. In fact Severus had been present during a particularly nasty incident that was the cause of the headmaster's current reluctance to apparate anywhere. Especially to anywhere that his brother Aberforth might be.

Indeed, Severus had apparated to places less hospitable then most could imagine, most of which from the safety and security of the Forbidden Forest. On many of these occasions he had believed he was apparating to his death, a belief held most strongly the day after the Dark Lord's return, just over a year ago.

Severus had always maintained that he couldn't understand how splinching victims could be so careless as to allow their emotions to play a role in such a delicate, though simple, magical manoeuvre. Until now.

Upon apparating from the Granger residence, via several other locations to lose any possible tracking charm, to the Order Headquarters, Severus found himself with the sudden need to be 'elsewhere' as soon as possible. Rio was supposed to be nice this time of year.

The foyer of the House of Black was filled with people, most of them with accusing glares. The accusations themselves were not so unusual, as most of the Order disapproved of him at the very least, or in a few cases, were openly hostile towards him. Potter and Moody were the most prominent among these.

Dumbledore, however, was not glaring at him. He just looked resigned and disappointed. Severus knew immediately that he could not tell the headmaster the truth of what had occurred this night. Or at least until he could so some proper research on the Killing Curse.

Granger was another who was not simply glaring at him in accusation. Actually, she was being restrained by her friends while she screamed insults at him. 'Murdering Bastard' was the least offensive, although probably the most accurate.

It was at this point, only moments after arriving, that Severus realised that his left cheek was stinging rather painfully. Miss Granger had apparently slapped him as soon as his face appeared in view. Severus raised his hand to his cheek, then examined the bloody fingertips. _'Little hellcat!'_ he thought in amazement. He was rather grateful someone had had the foresight to remove her wand. Or at least he hoped they had.

"I think we should move this into the kitchen, don't you Severus?" Dumbledore asked with the ease and slick feel of a practiced diplomat. With about the same effect. In the time it took Severus to raise an eyebrow, look warily at the restrained Gryffindor before him and mutter "Indeed," people had already started moving. The adult members of the Order were moving off to the kitchen, (although Severus noted that Moody was keeping his magical eye trained on him the entire way.) and Molly was bustling the younger generation upstairs despite their protests and Miss Granger's...temper.

Before moving off himself, Severus mentally examined his schedule for the remainder of the night:

1. Report to the Order the events of the evening, all the while keeping secret the true nature of the Grangers' deaths from a man who was paranoia personified and another who was an accomplished leglimens.

2. Decide what to tell Miss Granger. Telling her the same lie as he told the rest of the Order would keep things simple, the best way to tell a lie. But if what he suspected was true, then eventually she would discover the truth and for that she would never forgive him.

Of course, there was the very good chance that her forgiveness was already beyond his reach, but lying to her about her family's deaths would be the nail in his coffin. And for some reason that he chose not to examine too closely, (or even from a great distance for that matter) Hermione Granger's forgiveness was something he greatly desired.

3. Inform Miss Granger of the manner of her family's deaths without receiving further physical or magical injury. He so very much hoped that someone had hidden her wand. A witch as capable as Miss Granger would be a very dangerous woman indeed, given the right incentive. And Miss Granger had incentive in spades.

4. At some point hunt through the formidable Black family library for references to the Killing Curse. When it came to Dark Texts, it was second only to Lucius' own. Perhaps there, he could find something to explain Lucius' continued existence.

5. Sleep. Well, tonight this was optional.

Severus squared his shoulders, tried not to wince at the tightness in his cheek and made his way into the kitchen.

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A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! That would have to be about the best response I've ever had for a single chapter.

Sorry for the lack of real development in this chapter, and the shortness of it, but I was a little pressed for time. Hopefully I'll have more up in a couple of days.


	3. His Slytherin Nature

For Kat

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Severus entered the kitchen to find that the seemingly impenetrable wall of accusing glares he had encountered in the hall way had divided into ranks, differing levels of hatred and suspicion if you will, although they all still cut into him with silent cries of 'murder' and 'traitor'.

The table, as always, was crowded, although the full roster of the Order of the Phoenix was not present. In it's present seating arrangement, Severus was rather reminded of a courtroom, but without all the fancy trimmings. At the far end, like an impartial third judge, sat Dumbledore, with his fellows on either side. Tonks, who seemed predisposed to vote him guilty, but was willing to listen, sat on Dumbledore's right. On the Headmaster's left sat Shacklebolt, who it seemed had already passed beyond judgment and was ready to hand down sentence.

Next, divided by the table and for once grimly serious, were two of the newest members of the Order: Fred & George Weasley. Although it seemed as if it were not only the table that divided them, for one was watching him speculatively, while the other's gaze told Severus that he had best watch what he ate for the next few days. Weeks. Regardless of the outcome.

On Severus' right sat the sole survivor of the group of boys that had made his academic career a living hell. Although Remus' gaze also pinned him accusingly, there was understanding there as well. Severus smothered the urge to laugh at the irony of it. Despite all their history and the bad blood between them, it seemed that the lycanthrope would be his sole defender in this matter.

Finally, on his left, sat the chief prosecutor - Alastor J. "Mad-Eye" Moody, Esq., villain-at-law and paranoia professional. Moody's magical eye was, for once, looking in one direction only, as if by sheer force of will the man could see into Severus' thoughts and discover all his secrets. Severus scoffed at the ridiculousness of that idea and let his eyes fall to the device sitting innocently on the table in front of the old Auror.

It was a curious little thing, like something one would expect to find in the bedroom of a small girl-child. A perfect model of a ginger cat, no more than two inches tall, lay curled up on the table as if asleep. The very innocence of such an object in the possession of someone like Mad-Eye Moody made it highly suspicious. Severus watched it warily as he took his seat in the last available chair and took an apparently relaxed posture. _'Obviously one of the nutter's many sneak-o-scopes. Easily countered.'_ He flicked his gaze to the Headmaster's form at the far end of the table and away again. 'Not so easily countered. This will be delicate.' He would have to avoid direct eye contact with the man without seeming as if he were avoiding eye contact.

The cat-toy suddenly stood up and began hissing at him. "He's lying!" Moody spat.

"Now, Alastor," Dumbledore said benignly, "Severus hasn't even spoken yet."

"I don't care." Moody sneered. "He's still lying. He lies with his entire being and you all know it. He's one of them. He always has been and always will be. Tonight is just further proof of that. I guarantee you the first words out of his mouth will be nothing but falsehood and deception!"

Severus smirked. Just the opening he'd been looking for. "And here I was thinking you had such a kind and forgiving nature, Alastor." he said with mock sincerity. The cat hissed again and Severus could see restrained amusement among some of the Order.

"Of course I'm lying you fool. I'm a spy, that's what I do. My very life is a lie. But I will tell you this: I no more want to see the Dark Lord win this war than you do." Severus felt rather satisfied to see that the cat had settled back down and started purring during his little speech. He was sorely tempted to make some remark suggesting that Moody remove the toy before he hurt himself with it, but at this point it would only hurt his case. So he refrained and turned his attention to the rest of the inmates in this asylum.

It never ceased to amaze Severus how easily people were manipulated. A simple act, a small gesture, and their opinions would change like the tide. Or solidify into stone. For instance, in providing this small measure of truth – that he didn't want the Dark Lord to win the war – he had now convinced them that he would be telling them the whole truth about the night's events, despite having admitted he was a consummate liar. _'No wonder that it's people like this are the world's leaders while people like me run things from behind the scenes.'_

As such, it was no surprise that the most of the Order were now ready to listen to what he had to say and, if he phrased it right, accept it as truth. Which most of it would be. In fact all of what he said would be the truth if he could get away with it. He'd just leave out that one small detail. A lie by omission. The best kind of lie. And if he was asked for details? Well the best lie is one that's mostly truth. _'Two parts truth to one part lie. Mix well and they'll swallow the whole thing.'_ as his mother used to tell him.

Remus was the first to ask. "What happened Severus?"

Severus began to give his account, making sure to look them all in the eye at some point. All of them except Dumbledore. "We arrived at the house and split up. Most of my... companions... secured the lower part of the house while Lucius, myself and a few others went upstairs. Lucius had divided up the captures like so: He was to apprehend the youngest daughter, the others to take the parents. He gave me the distinction of seizing Miss Granger. He seemed to believe that I would take some sort of perverse pleasure out of humbling the girl."

"And you would too, wouldn't you!"

Which of the Weasley twins said this was beyond Severus, but it was the one with hate filled eyes. He would have to tread carefully around this one in the future. "Only in the classroom, Mr Weasley, only in the classroom." A battle of wills ensued, between Weasley hate and the disdain of Snape. Or at least, an attempted battle. One that Severus chose to ignore and, instead, continued his narrative.

"I entered Miss Granger's bedroom to find her entrenched in some book, despite the lateness of the hour. I removed my mask as soon as I entered, so as to not be on the receiving end of her wand. As it was she had already retrieved her wand and was ready to cast. Thankfully, she recognised me and I was able to portkey her out with a minimum of fuss."

"A minimum of fuss?" Shacklebolt asked incredulously. "One of the few details we managed to get out of the poor girl was that you tricked her into leaving. That you promised to save her family and then went back on your word." This last statement was laced with utter loathing.

Kingsley Shacklebolt was a peculiar sort, for an Auror. Especially in the current political climate. Severus was of the opinion that he would have been more at home among Arthur's Knights, or perhaps in Feudal Japan, such was his sense of honour. For a man like Shacklebolt, honour was held in higher regard than life itself. 'Death before dishonour' as the credo went. To break one's word was the most grievous of sins.

Kingsley had to walk a very fine line to maintain his oaths – both as an Auror and as a member of the Order. Severus had once had the temerity to ask what he would do when the two contradicted each other. The reply had simply been – "It has never come up." Of course, Severus was already of low worth in Kingsley's eyes, having betrayed the Dark Lord. It didn't matter that Severus had chosen good over evil. He had still broken his word. Thankfully, tonight oath breaking had not been necessary.

"Before she left, Miss Granger begged me to save her family. I wish to all the Gods, above and below, that I could have. But I could not." Severus raised his head to look the dark skinned Auror in the eye, making sure to school his features into the shape of regret. "So instead I promised her they would die quickly and without pain. I'm sad to say that I kept my word."

Severus paused a moment to allow his audience to absorb his words. For audience they were. At the start of this...hearing, they had been more. But now? Thanks to his careful and subtle manipulations, they were merely spectators. Or at least, most of them were. He refused to allow his eyes to drift to his sole remaining opponent. _'All in good time.'_

"By the time I returned downstairs, Lucius and the others had gathered the Grangers in the living room. I 'regretfully' reported that Miss Granger had managed to apparate away before I could capture her and reassured him that I remained unrecognised. Mr Granger chose this moment to try and defend his family. Unfortunately, Lucius has little patience for such bravery." Severus almost choked on those words. In truth his opinion was much closer to Lucius', but when in Rome, one must at least pretend to be Roman...

"Mrs Granger screamed at the death of her husband, and gave me the opportunity I needed. Her husband's life bought that much at least. I advised Lucius that we had best be quick, lest the muggle police come to investigate. He agreed, and ordered Miss Granger's mother and sister killed. We left directly after, and I came here."

On one side, Severus could hear Remus murmuring. "Lux aeterna eis, Domine, cum sanctis tuis in aeternam; quia pius es." A prayer for the dead. Remus had not taken Black's death well. Of late Severus had found him contemplating holy scriptures more and more often. It would not surprise him, once the war was over, if he should learn that Remus had become a priest.

One last question remained, it seemed that he would have to lie after all. And Severus knew just who would be the one to ask. He would not be disappointed.

"How did the Grangers die, Severus." Albus Dumbledore asked.

"The Killing Curse. Lucius killed Mr Granger himself." Severus raised his eyes to meet his master's, allowing only the memory of that event to slip through his guard. Sure enough, he felt the older man's light touch on his mind. He let his gaze drop.

"I cannot be certain about the others. Apart from Lucius and myself, they were all cloaked and masked." A pair of images – Dolohov's bloody ring and the matching cut on the young girl's cheek – also retrieved by the Headmaster of Hogwarts.

"I only wish I knew." The final images – a figure with a drawn wand, cloaked in black and masked in silver, silhouetted in green. The bodies of the Grangers, crumpled and lifeless on the floor. Severus remained silent while Dumbledore considered this final information. He kept his hope buried deep.

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Yeah, I know. Cliff-hanger. Ain't I nasty? The next chapter should be up in about a week.

Latin translation:

Lux aeterna eis, Domine, cum sanctis tuis in aeternam; quia pius es.  
Let eternal light shine upon them, O Lord, with Thy saints forever, for Thou art merciful.


	4. Off Balance

The kitchen door closed behind Severus with a click as the latch fell into place and he felt some of the tension bleed out from him. Enough remained, however, that the hairs on the back of his neck stood up as a Ward of Silence was raised within the room he had just left. Severus smiled grimly. There was a reason why that particular ward had been nicknamed 'The Conspiracy Charm'. Once Severus had felt irked that there was information being kept from him. "In case you're discovered," they said. "We don't trust you," they meant. But Severus didn't care anymore. _'Let them keep their secrets,'_ he thought, _'I've got more important things to do.'_

Like divining truth from fiction. 

At least he would not have to deal with Miss Granger further this night. While he would have preferred to confront her before she had time to think and plan revenge, Molly had seen to it that she was in such a sleep that only a potion can bring. Ironically Albus had advised him that he, Severus, should be the one to relate to her the full details of her family's murder. Something he'd intended to do anyway. But it would have to wait until morning, a time he could practically guarantee would see the house conspicuously empty. 

Severus squared his shoulders and strode quickly down the hallway, his robes billowing behind him. Quickly, yet quietly. As he made to pass the stairs, he slowed, then stopped. Something felt...off. His eyes darted about, seeking the cause of his discomfort. Nothing seemed out of place on the ground floor. Gas lamps flickered dimly along the passage, lending a subtle light to the darkness. The light glittered among crystals hanging from the serpentine chandelier, while shadows played about the peeling wallpaper. Severus allowed himself a moment of regret for what the house must once have been then directed his gaze upward. The first floor landing was shrouded in darkness, the shadows impenetrable, while the second looked much the same as the ground floor, lamps flickering sickly in the darkness. 

_'Wait a minute...'_

Severus returned his gaze to the shadow bound landing of the first floor, trying to pierce their depths. Apparently satisfied in seeing nothing but darkness, he called out, "If you're quite finished, Miss Weasley, perhaps you would care to come down and explain yourself." It was not a request. 

After a moment's hesitation, the youngest Weasley emerged from her hiding place in the shadows and, doing her best not to look guilty, brought herself to the bottom of the stairs far more silently than most of the house's inhabitants could do. Severus found himself reluctantly adjusting his opinion of the girl. This was no longer the painfully shy little girl under the sway of a memory. No, Ginevra Weasley was far more dangerous than all the rest of her family combined. It was only a question of who she was dangerous to... 

"Well, Miss Weasley? Were you spying on me for any particular reason or were you just indulging your curiosity?" Severus' tone left no doubt as to his opinion about too curious cats and Gryffindors. 

The girl appeared to wrestle with her conscience for a moment. Or perhaps she was deciding which would be more useful - the truth or a lie. By the slump of her shoulders, Severus could tell that she had decided in favour of truth. "Survival." 

"Spying on your betters as a means to survival, Miss Weasley? A most interesting point of view. Pray, tell me more." Severus could be likened to a cat - they both liked playing with their prey. 

The prey had either yet to realise this or did not care. 

"No, Professor, information is survival. The Order never tell the Trinity anything, and they tell me even less..." She broke off as Severus pinched the bridge of his nose to ward off the inevitable headache. 

"Trinity, Miss Weasley? Please do not tell me that some Gryffindor has had the gall to raise those three to the level of deities." 

Ginny's mouth twitched upward. "Hardly, sir. It's just a joke we've been kicking around the common room. Trinity: Mother, Son, and Holy Ghost. Hermione's the mother - she's forever telling us to study and so forth. Harry's the Son - forever whining about his parents." She rolled her eyes. "And then there's the Holy Ghost, my dear brother Ron - I don't know where he goes but almost every night he begs, borrows or steals Harry's cloak and disappears. I'm surprised you've never caught him." 

Severus fought the urge to smirk at this insight into Gryffindor politics as the image of their reactions filled his mind's eye. Weasley, undoubtedly sneaking out to visit some giggling Hufflepuff would be mortified to discover that his nocturnal habits were the object of ridicule. Potter would be all bluster and indignation. And Granger... 

Suddenly it wasn't funny anymore and Severus was apalled that he could laugh at her expense, especially while she was grieving. He was then irritated that it should matter to him at all and he lashed out at the nearest target, coldly rebuking his new soon-to-be informant. "As...amusing as it may be, such a moniker is highly inappropriate, given the current circumstances. You will not use it again, understood?" Ginny nodded her assent and he continued, "Moreover, you can inform your housemates that if I or any other teacher hears it being used in any form, detentions will be the least of your worries. Is that clear?" 

"Yes, sir!" she said triumphantly. 

Severus was confused. In the near two decades he'd been terrorising students, he'd seen many and varied reactions to his treatment of students - some cried, some merely whimpered. Gryffindors like Potter glared and argued while Slytherins cajoled and bargained. There was enven one memorable occasion on which a second year Hufflepuff had lost control of his bladder after a particularly vicious threat form the Potions Master. Dumbledore had been less than pleased that day, and Severus was no longer allowed to make threats that included bodily harm. 

But no one barring the insane had ever smiled as result of the infamous Snape temper, let alone as if it were some great victory. If Severus had had the time he would have allowed himself the luxury of solving this puzzle. Was it the fact that she was a Gryffindor and they were eternally infuriating or was it simply the female mindset? 

And now she was thanking him. 

"What the devil for?" The question was out of his mouth before he could think. 

Ginny gave him a look that he had only before seen on her mother - a mixture of pity, understanding and forgiveness. "For proving me right. Goodnight, Professor." 

Before he could rebuke her for her impudence, the ancient grandfather clock rusting away down the corridor rang with two deep but discordant chimes. Time was getting away from him and he had none to spare, so he merely admonished her, "Do not let me catch you spying on me again." That was a subtle enough hint that she should catch it. Watching for further attempts by her should help keep him sharp without risking his life. "If, on the other hand, you should happen to overhear something that I should know, be sure to bring it to my attention imediately." 

And with that he left.

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A/N: I'm not entirely happy with this chapter but if I don't post it now I never will. Hopefully the next one won't take as long.  



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